What This License Is
A West Virginia Property line of authority covers insurance against loss to real and personal property — homeowners, dwelling fire, commercial property and inland marine. It is issued by the OIC and examined separately, though in practice almost nobody takes it alone.
The Commissioner's 2025 figures make that vivid: two candidates sat the individual West Virginia Property exam that year, against 667 who sat the combined Property and Casualty paper. The standalone Property line exists and is fully supported, but the combined route is the road most travelled — the Property & Casualty guide covers it.
This line is also the gateway to surplus lines, which is a separate licence with its own exam, its own $200 fee, and a prerequisite measured in years. That route is covered in full below.
Exam Options & Format
The standalone examination is InsWV-Prop30: 90 questions in 120 minutes on the handbook's registration table, at $84.00 per attempt. The combined InsWV-PC03 is 150 questions in 210 minutes for the same fee, and earns both Property and Casualty authority in one sitting.
Both come in two parts — General Knowledge and West Virginia Specific — with both parts to be passed within twelve months of the first. The content outlines effective June 16, 2026 give the Property line 50 scored plus 5 pretest on the general part and 30 scored on the state part, with no pretest items on the state paper.
The passing standard is a scaled score of 70, not a percentage.
Most Tested Topics on the West Virginia Property Exam
West Virginia's property law carries two features that generic national prep never covers — a statutory mine subsidence programme and a quota on nonrenewals. These are the facts the state part tests:
| Concept | The West Virginia rule |
|---|---|
| The West Virginia standard fire policy | §33-17-2 adopts by reference "the basic policy commonly known as the New York standard fire policy, edition of one thousand nine hundred forty-three," designated the West Virginia standard fire policy. Multiple-line policies are exempt from strict conformity where the fire portion is at least as favorable to the insured and the form is Commissioner-approved |
| Property nonrenewal notice | At least 30 days before the end of the policy period, with the specific reasons — §33-17A-4(c) |
| Property cancellation notice, contents | In writing, delivered or sent by first class mail to the last known address, stating the effective date, accompanied by a written explanation of the specific reasons — §33-17A-4(b). The subsection prescribes no advance-notice period; the operative five days is a term of the incorporated standard fire policy |
| Grounds window for property cancellation | The ten lettered grounds bite only after coverage has been in effect for more than 60 days, or after the effective date of a renewal — §33-17A-5 |
| Four-year claim protections | A policy in force at least four years may not be cancelled or nonrenewed solely because of one first-party property damage claim within 36 months from wind, hail, lightning, wildfire, snow or ice, or two first-party claims within 12 months from state-of-emergency events — §33-17A-4(c)(1)(A)-(B) |
| Nonrenewal quota | Nonrenewals under the alternative method may not exceed 1% per year of the insurer's West Virginia policies in force, with a parallel 1% per county limit; annual report to the Commissioner on or before September 30 — §33-17A-4a(d), (g) |
| WV Essential Property Insurance Association | Writes fire, lightning, riot, explosion, vehicle, smoke, hail, aircraft and wind — §114-21-9.2. Limits $200,000 for any one habitational risk and $500,000 for any one commercial risk — §114-21-9.1. Producer commission 10% on new business — §114-21-12.1 |
| Mine subsidence, automatic inclusion | Every policy issued or renewed insuring on a direct basis a structure in this state shall include mine subsidence coverage at a separately stated premium unless waived by the insured — §33-30-6(a). Fifteen named counties run the opposite way: no waiver is required and coverage is provided only on request |
| Mine subsidence limits and administration | Deductible not less than $250 nor more than $500; total insured value reinsured by the board not to exceed $200,000; the policy takes effect on the thirtieth day after application — §33-30-6(b). The fund sits within the office of the state Board of Risk and Insurance Management, not the Insurance Commissioner — §33-30-4(a) |
| Surplus lines diligent search | A diligent search among insurers admitted to transact and actually writing that type of insurance in this state — §33-12C-5. The statute sets no number of declinations |
| Surplus lines premium tax | 4.55% of gross premiums and gross fees charged, less return premiums, collected and remitted by the licensee — §33-12C-7(a). Quarterly installments by the 25th day of the month following each quarter; annual return on or before March 1 |
| Surplus lines records retention | Open to examination without notice for a period not less than ten years following termination of the contract — §33-12C-16 |
Mine subsidence is the West Virginia question. It is an opt-out, not a mandatory offer: coverage rides on every direct policy on a West Virginia structure at a separately stated premium unless the insured waives it. In fifteen named counties — Berkeley, Cabell, Calhoun, Hampshire, Hardy, Jackson, Jefferson, Monroe, Morgan, Pendleton, Pleasants, Ritchie, Roane, Wirt and Wood — the default flips and coverage is provided only on request. The fund reinsures the primary carrier rather than issuing directly, and it lives with the Board of Risk and Insurance Management, which is not the Insurance Commissioner. A question that pairs "mine subsidence" with "who administers it" is testing that last point.
The declination count is the second trap, and it is a trap of omission. National prep teaches three declinations before a surplus lines placement. West Virginia's diligent-search statute imposes no number at all — it requires a diligent search among insurers admitted to transact and actually writing that type in this state, and it drops the search entirely for an exempt commercial purchaser who has been given the required disclosure and has subsequently requested in writing that the licensee place the business with a nonadmitted insurer. Both halves of that exemption are required.
Where to Test in West Virginia
Pearson VUE delivers every West Virginia insurance licensing exam, and it delivers them in person only. There is no remote-proctored option — not in the June 2026 candidate handbook, which contains no remote-testing section at all; not on Pearson VUE's West Virginia page, whose only testing links are "Find a test center" and "Find a test center on a military base"; and not in the Commissioner's own operational data. The 2025 Examination Pass/Fail Report accounts for 6,976 exams across nineteen exam types and segments them only by first-time versus repeat takers — there is no delivery-modality column and no remotely-proctored category anywhere in it. Plan on driving.
The sites. The handbook's back cover lists test center locations in twelve West Virginia cities, with two sites each in Charleston and Huntington — fourteen sites in twelve cities:
Beaver · Beckley · Bridgeport · Charleston (2) · Huntington (2) · Hurricane · Martinsburg · Morgantown · Moundsville · Parkersburg · Princeton · Wheeling
That count is the handbook's. Pearson VUE's own West Virginia web page prints a slightly different roster, so treat the handbook as the reference and the scheduling system as the authority on any given day — the handbook itself notes that locations and schedules are subject to change.
Street addresses are not published. Neither the handbook nor the vendor's West Virginia page prints them; the handbook gives city names only. The live addresses exist solely inside Pearson VUE's test-center finder, which you reach when you schedule. Any study site handing you a tidy table of West Virginia test-center street addresses did not get it from a primary source.
You are not confined to West Virginia. The handbook notes that over 400 test centers are available nationwide, including select military installations. A candidate in the Eastern Panhandle is often closer to a Maryland or Virginia site than to Charleston, and a West Virginia exam delivered at an out-of-state Pearson VUE center is the same exam.
Booking. Register with Pearson VUE using client code WVINS, online or at 1-800-274-2614, at least 24 hours before the desired date. Walk-in examinations are not available. The $84.00 fee is paid at reservation by credit card, debit card or voucher — fees are not accepted at the test center — and vouchers can be bought through Pearson's voucher store.
Changing or cancelling. Call Pearson VUE at least 48 hours before the exam. With proper notice the fee transfers to a new reservation or is refunded; without it, you forfeit the entire exam fee. Note that 48 hours is the change window and 24 hours is the booking window — they are different rules and the shorter one is not the one that protects your money.
Two further wrinkles the handbook covers: Weather Delays and Cancellations has its own section, which matters in a state where a January exam in Morgantown and one in Martinsburg are different propositions; and English as a Second Language accommodations use a separate form at the back of the handbook, distinct from the disability accommodations process on Pearson VUE's West Virginia accommodations page. Both need lead time.
The Surplus Lines Route in West Virginia
Surplus lines is not a line of authority you add to a producer licence in West Virginia. It is a separate licence, with its own exam, its own fee, its own filings, and a prerequisite that keeps newly licensed producers out for years.
Getting in. The candidate handbook sets three requirements: "1. Be currently licensed as a West Virginia resident agent. 2. Have 3 consecutive years of property & casualty sales experience immediately preceding the date of application. One of the years must be as a licensed West Virginia agent. 3. Complete and submit the proper application for approval to the West Virginia Insurance Commissioner."
The OIC's License Types document states the prerequisite differently — as holding a Property & Casualty licence for three consecutive years. Experience is not licensure, and the handbook's version adds a West-Virginia-agent year the other omits. Confirm with the Licensing Division which they will apply to you. The statute, §33-12C-8, requires neither: it asks only that the applicant be "a qualified holder of a current property and casualty individual insurance producer's license," with no duration attached. The three-year rule is administrative, not statutory.
Pre-licensing education is not required for surplus lines. The exam still is — InsWV-Surp34, 50 questions in 60 minutes. Once you pass, mail the original score report with the $200 licence fee to the Licensing Division. Renewal is $200; late renewal is $300. Resident licensees must establish and maintain an office in this state.
Diligent search — and the number that is not there. §33-12C-5 requires that "a diligent search is made by the individual insurance producer among the insurers who are admitted to transact and are actually writing the particular type of insurance in this state if any are writing it." Read the qualifier: the search runs among carriers actually writing that type, not every admitted carrier on the list. And the statute sets no number of declinations. The Commissioner publishes a list of eligible surplus lines insurers "from time to time but at least annually" — and does not call it an export list.
Telling the insured. Under §33-12C-13 no contract placed by a surplus lines licensee becomes binding until the licensee gives the insured written notice, in a form acceptable to the Commissioner and retained in the licensee's records, stating that the insurer is not licensed by this state and is not subject to its supervision, and that in the event of the surplus lines insurer's insolvency, losses will not be paid by the state insurance guaranty fund. The trigger is binding, not timing — the statute fixes no day count and no type size.
The tax, and it is the licensee's to remit. 4.55% of gross premiums and gross fees charged, less return premiums, under §33-12C-7(a). Estimated installments are due on or before the 25th day of the month following the close of each quarter for the first three quarters, with the annual return and computation due on or before March 1. Subsection (b) forbids a producer from paying the tax as an inducement or rebating any part of the tax or the commission. The proceeds fund municipal police and firefighter pension and relief funds and volunteer fire companies.
Two annual deadlines that are not the same date. The evidence-of-insurance report and diligent-search affidavits under §33-12C-11 are due on or before March 1 for the preceding calendar year. The summary of exported business under §33-12C-17 — aggregate gross premiums written, aggregate return premiums, aggregate tax remitted to West Virginia, and aggregate tax due or remitted to each other state — is due on or before May 1. May 1 is also the renewal deadline: the licence expires at midnight on May 31, renewal must be filed before May 1, and filing after May 1 costs a $100 penalty on top.
Records for ten years. §33-12C-16 requires a full and true record of each contract, open to examination by the Commissioner without notice for not less than ten years following termination of the contract — twice the five-year periods that appear elsewhere in West Virginia insurance law.
One terminology note: West Virginia still uses "excess line broker" as a licence term in Article 12 alongside "surplus lines licensee" in Article 12C. Both appear in live statute.
What It Costs
$84.00 to Pearson VUE per examination, $47.25 to IdentoGO for fingerprinting, $50.00 to the Insurance Commissioner with the application, plus a 20-hour pre-licensing course — about $181.25 in fixed costs on a first-time pass.
The combined Property & Casualty paper costs the same $84.00 as the standalone Property exam and earns two lines, which is why almost every candidate takes it.
If you later add surplus lines, that is a separate track: $200 application, $200 renewal, $300 late renewal, and a $100 penalty for renewing after May 1.
The OIC's fee schedule dated 8/19/2026 gives fingerprinting as $47.25; the June 2026 handbook still prints $45.75. Budget the higher figure.
Eligibility Requirements
The candidate handbook sets five requirements: be a resident of West Virginia; be eighteen (18) years of age or older; satisfy the Insurance Commissioner that you are trustworthy and competent; take the examinations administered by Pearson VUE; and — the item most study material still gets wrong — sponsorship by an insurance company is no longer required on the application.
A criminal conviction is not an automatic bar. The OIC's Resident Producer FAQ addresses it directly, and the Commissioner maintains a 1033 Information set — 1033 Procedures, 1033 FAQs and a 1033 Short Form Application — with a $100.00 waiver fee on the published schedule. Federal law (18 U.S.C. 1033) bars anyone convicted of a felony involving dishonesty or breach of trust from working in insurance without written consent, and the 1033 waiver is how that consent is obtained here.
Keeping Your License Active
Important CE details: Twenty-four hours per biennial compliance period, three of them ethics. Up to six hours over the minimum carry into the next biennium, but ethics hours carry forward as general credit only — three fresh ethics hours are due every cycle. Providers have 30 days to file your credits, and the Commissioner warns that courses taken less than 30 days before expiration may not post in time to renew.
Twenty-four hours per biennial compliance period including three ethics hours, renewing by the last day of your birth month. The Property & Casualty guide covers the mechanics, the carryover rule and the late-renewal ladder.
Property producers have no product-specific training gate of their own — the annuity and long-term care requirements sit on the life and health lines. But note that producers licensed only for credit, surety, travel, title, crop and car rental, or any combination of those lines, are not required to complete continuing education at all. A full Property line is not on that list.
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